tag:kateggleston.com,2005:/blogs/news?p=2News2024-03-18T07:11:56-07:00Kat Egglestonfalsetag:kateggleston.com,2005:Post/61371292019-04-04T17:00:00-07:002024-03-18T07:11:56-07:00New recording!
<p>There's a helluva lot to report, there just is, and this time it's all good! I've been working on a new recording, putting together all the songs from my play "The Cyclone Line." Some have been recorded before, a few are new, all are recorded sparsely, adding only one instrument to my guitar and voice. When we did the play the first time, I was lucky enough to have the company of Mark Graham onstage, maestro of harmonica. He joined me on several cuts for this recording. Also joining me on the record is John Rice, who would be my choice of sideman if/when we get to do the show in Chicago. John could get beautiful music out of an old sock, I'm convinced, but on this album he played mandolin and dobro. </p>
<p>I'm hugely fortunate to have both these guys on board.</p>
<p>The album is scheduled to be released in September, but advance copies will be going out to patrons on my Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16453465. THAT'S new too, it just went up today, check it out and let me know what you think!</p>
<p>In other news, my health continues to be good, no return of the pesky cancer. I got lucky. Very. I know you were wondering.</p>
<p>One more thing; I was recently hired to compose and compile music for a stage production called "Kissing the Joy as it Flies," a compilation of some of the writings of magnificent Oregon writer Brian Doyle. Directed by Charlotte Tiencken, who is also my partner in crime for "Cyclone." There were four actors onstage, plus me and my guitar, in a show put together by Michael and Gerry Feinstein on Vashon Island. It looks likely that we'll be able to travel with that show too, stay tuned and I'll keep you posted.</p>
<p>I loved the work. I'm hoping to do more of that kind of thing in the future, writing original music for stage productions. That doesn't make them musicals, of course, not necessarily, but a play with music is a lovely thing. Think of "Once," that's a good example.</p>
<p>So... That's it for now. Check in on the Patreon page to keep up on the news and listen to cuts from the new record. </p>
<p>All the best to you all.</p>
Kat Egglestontag:kateggleston.com,2005:Post/61371282016-12-06T16:00:00-08:002023-12-10T11:05:09-08:00The Cyclone Line
<p>It's been awhile, it certainly has.</p>
<p>Here's the deal; it turns out that taking care of a parent who has dementia is a tougher thing than anyone can realistically expect or prepare for, no matter what you hear. I recently heard a spokesman for the Libertarian platform defend his stand on abolishing Medicaid and privatizing Social Security by saying, "well, everyone I know would be proud and happy to take care of their loved ones when they get old."</p>
<p>He had no idea.</p>
<p>You can't do it alone, you can't leave them alone either, you can't stay at home all the time, add it up. We need help with these things. When that help comes from an experienced memory care facility - such as the wonderful Olympic Alzheimer's Residence in Gig Harbor where my father spent the last year of his life - you find that it costs thousands of dollars a month. It's worth every penny, and more, if it's a place as good as Olympic. But if you don't have it, you need that Medicaid, you just do. </p>
<p>At the best of times, with all the help you need, it's emotionally and physically exhausting. It takes a long time to build up strength again and to recover from the loss... Well, how do you do that anyway? At the best of times?</p>
<p>It turns out that I was more fortunate with friends and family than I realized, and I thought I placed an enormous value on those people in my life. Not nearly enough, though. When my new friend Charlotte Tiencken came to me with the idea of writing a play about my father's life in the Oklahoma dustbowl, I jumped at the chance, not knowing that so much deep healing would happen in the process of writing it.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, that's how I spend the year following dad's passing. Then we had the first full production of the play on a weekend in early November of this year, a month ago. The play is called "The Cyclone Line," named for the telephone line in Oklahoma that stretched over the barbed wire fence - a party line that was often used to track the weather, good and bad, including the dust storms. That party line was a natural vehicle to wrap a play around, I thought, it seemed to be a powerful image for bringing the voices of the past into the present so they can be heard again, and not lost. It's time for that, certainly, if we don't want to bring another dustbowl on ourselves. </p>
<p>Stay tuned for news of The Cyclone Line, Charlotte is representing the play and we hope to bring it to a theatre near you. Judging from the number of people who saw the first production and have stopped me on the street to talk about their lost loved ones, the massive impact of the dustbowl, the great danger to our environment, the power of story... I guess this is a piece that should have as much of an audience as I can find for it. </p>
<p>Wish me luck. Hope to see you all soon, somewhere down the line.</p>
Kat Egglestontag:kateggleston.com,2005:Post/61371272015-02-26T16:00:00-08:002023-12-10T11:17:29-08:00Back to work.
<p>Well, here we are. Back at it; writing, teaching a lot, and playing more shows at last. I'm not alone. There are quite a few of us in the world of the performing songwriter who have had to take a little time away from the business in order to take care of family. There's no better reason, of course. What a privilege it is, to look after the people we love. What a massive, overwhelming, beautiful, transformational struggle it can be. And what a challenge it is to get back to writing and playing. Particularly writing, in my case. </p>
<p>Fortunately, a good friend of mine once told me not to be afraid of the times when I seemed to have nothing much to say, in favor of thinking of that time as "mulching." What a relief. And how wonderful it is to see things finally start to grow again. </p>
<p>So, there are new songs. There are a few projects in the works. Stay tuned, and I'll keep you all up to date on concerts and future recordings as they emerge. </p>
<p>Nice to be back.</p>
Kat Egglestontag:kateggleston.com,2005:Post/61371262011-04-24T17:00:00-07:002022-11-28T14:55:27-08:00New Duo CD!
<p><img src="http://www.katemacleod.com/K&K%20CD%20Cover%20-%20Lost%20and%20Found.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" style="width: 220px; height: 199px; top: 740px; left: 540px;" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'm excited to announce the release of the second Kat and Kate duo CD, LOST AND FOUND. It's available online now through <a href="http://www.waterbug.com/catalog/" data-imported="1">Waterbug Records</a> and at Kat and Kate's live concerts. A radio release is scheduled for April. In a few weeks, it will also be available for digital downloads on all of the regular sites.</p>
<p>Look for more detailed information on the Kate and Kat page at <a href="http://www.katemacleod.com" data-imported="1">www.katemacleod.com</a></p>
<p> </p>
Kat Egglestontag:kateggleston.com,2005:Post/61371252011-01-06T16:00:00-08:002024-03-18T07:11:56-07:00New duo CD and concerts
<p>Welcome to 2011. </p>
<p>How odd. 2011.. never saw that coming. </p>
<p>It's shaping up to be a good one though, so far, Kate and I will be mixing and mastering our second duo recording This Very Month, with the help of our friends and fans who contributed to the cause through Kickstarter. Thank you all so much! </p>
<p>We have two lovely release concerts booked right now, one in Seattle March 12 hosted by the Seattle Folklore Society and one in Salt Lake City March 20. The details to that one to follow shortly, check the calendar page for specifics. </p>
<p>We're both really excited about this recording, we recorded it the same way we did the last one (and in the same studio, with our friend Linda Silas as engineer) playing live with few changes or overdubs. Now that we've been playing together for about eleven years it sometimes feels as though the combination of the two of us makes another whole voice.</p>
<p>Man. I have no idea how many people are fortunate enough to have that kind of musical magic happen, but I would wish it on everyone who gets to play and sing, whether they do it for a living or not.</p>
<p>Anyway. In other news, I'll be going back on the road with the amazing David Munnelly band from Ireland, for their March U.S. tour. <a href="http://www.davidmunnelly.com/david_munnelly/home.html" data-imported="1">http://www.davidmunnelly.com/david_munnelly/home.html</a></p>
<p>These guys are a real adventure. Being in the audience is heart-poundingly wonderful, you just wait and see. I don't know how many years I've been working with them, but it's been an occasional thing for several years now, when they need someone to fill in for their singer while they're over here in the States.</p>
<p>For awhile now, that singer has been the terrific Shauna Mullin. Never get to hear nearly enough of her. </p>
<p>Oh, and for the March 12 show on that tour, of course I'll be in Seattle for the CD release concert with Kate, so Christa Burch will be singing that one. Also great.. another one of last year's winners of Live Ireland's "livies" awards.</p>
<p>There's the news for now, stay tuned. Got some other exciting projects brewing. This is going to be a great year. </p>
Kat Egglestontag:kateggleston.com,2005:Post/61371202010-02-02T16:00:00-08:002023-12-10T08:50:52-08:00"In My Room"
<p>"In My Room" is a compilation CD featuring many wonderful songwriters and performers, each covering a favorite song composed by someone else. It's an inspired project... each performer recorded the chosen song acoustically, without extra production, as close to the intimate sound of the living room as possible - hence the title "In My Room." Spearheaded by actor/singer/writer D.C. Anderson, the recording features cuts from David Roth, Christine Lavin, Dakota Blonde, Mike Reid, Kristina Olsen, Sally Fingerett, Catie Curtis... many others. I chose to record "How Can I Tell You," a song by Cat Stevens that I've put through countless arrangements since I first started playing an instrument. Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam is still one of the world's true, authentic, compassionate artists, my earliest and most lasting musical inspiration.
The sales of this CD will benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Release date: April 13, 2010. Visit the website to see the full list of people involved, keep up with the news, and look at the beautiful paintings created especially for this CD by Oregon artist Shannon Richardson.
www.inmyroomontheweb.com</p>
Kat Egglestontag:kateggleston.com,2005:Post/61371242010-01-02T16:00:00-08:002023-12-10T11:06:46-08:00Female Vocal Album of the Year.
<p>Great news to start the new decade; "Speak" wins Female Vocal Album of the Year from LiveIreland. "The Livies." </p>
<h3 class="UIIntentionalStory_Message"><span class="UIStory_Message"><a onmousedown="UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this), " rel="nofollow" href="http://my.liveireland.com/profiles/blogs/the-livies-liveireland-music" target="_blank" data-imported="1">http://my.liveireland.com/profiles/blogs/the-livies-liveireland-music</a></span></h3>
<p><span class="UIStory_Message">The other winners are terrific, and "Speak" is in great company. I heard Christa Burch's album "Love of the Land" as it was recorded, being lucky enough to have sung backup for her on some of the songs. I used to play with Matt and Shannon Heaton, I love their music and their great selves. The David Munnelly Band and Kieran Munnelly, just wonderful.</span></p>
<p><span class="UIStory_Message">I hope everybody who reads this checks out the links to all of them. I'm dying to hear the new David Munnelly Band recording, and Mick Maloney's, and Deirdre Scanlan, and all the others whether I'm familiar with them or not. And LiveIreland itself is pretty amazing, I'll be spending a lot of time there.</span></p>
<p><span class="UIStory_Message">Happy new decade, everyone.<br></span></p>
Kat Egglestontag:kateggleston.com,2005:Post/61371232009-12-14T16:00:00-08:002023-12-20T11:53:48-08:00But wait, there's more!
<p>Norm Mast & Al Kniola, hosts of The Back Porch on 88.1 WVPE, South Bend, IN.<span class="Apple-converted-space">, just posted their picks for 2009's top forty recordings. "Speak" is on there, as well as Kate MacLeod's "Blooming," and a host of Waterbug Records recording artists like the Sons of the Never Wrong, Joel Mabus, Jonathan Byrd...</span></p>
<p><span class="Apple-converted-space">www.waterbug.com Check out what's there!</span></p>
<p><span class="Apple-converted-space">So my 2009 release "Speak" is on this list as well as Matt Watroba's top ten, and made it to #17 on the folk dj playlist for September. Also the duo of Kat Eggleston and Kate MacLeod got an official Folk Alley showcase at the Folk Alliance conference in Memphis Feb 17 - 20... coincidentally, 2/17 is also my birthday. What a nice present.</span></p>
<p><span class="Apple-converted-space">Incidentally, it's also Michael Jordan's birthday, but he never sends a card. And Marian Anderson's. I'm proud of that, obscurely, having nothing directly to do with it except a glad accident of birth. In any event, I'll be spending the day in Memphis... in the meantime.</span></p>
<p><span class="Apple-converted-space">There'll be a bunch of travelling for me and Kate in Texas then, and Shreveport LA, and Davis OK, then I go on to Chicago and Michigan. Life is good. </span></p>
<p><span class="Apple-converted-space">More to come...<br></span></p>
Kat Egglestontag:kateggleston.com,2005:Post/61371222009-12-08T16:00:00-08:002024-01-12T08:51:41-08:00Top Ten
<p>So HERE'S are bit of exciting news; Matt Watroba put my newest cd "Speak" on his list of "top ten cds of 2009." Go to www.folkslikeus.org to find Matt's terrific radio show. The top ten lists are there, and he recently posted the one for 2009. The guy is a lovely musician too, and very well-respected. This is a real honor!</p>
Kat Egglestontag:kateggleston.com,2005:Post/61371212009-09-07T17:00:00-07:002023-12-10T10:50:31-08:00Don't miss Kat with Moe Dixon this Sunday at the Red Bike
<p>Hey all you Northwest people;</p>
<p>I just got back from the Kansas City Irish Festival where I had as much over-the-top fun singing with the David Munnelly band as I always do. The festival was incredible. I've never seen one that was better organized or more welcoming, and the music was wonderful! </p>
<p>Now I'm gearing up for my annual Fall show on Vashon Island. I try to do one there every year, always sharing the bill with someone I love who might not get out to the island very often. This Sunday I get to play with the wonderful Moe Dixon! I met Moe when we both played at the memorial concert for our beloved friend Tom Dundee at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago a few years back. Some of my best friends in the world now are people I met that night, people from the many circles of Tom's life who got together to sing his songs and tell stories. Moe just blew me away with his performance of Tom's song "the Flame and the Smoke." I couldn't believe I'd never heard him before. Made a promise to myself to hear him LOTS more, to keep in touch with the wonderful guy, and to do some singing and playing with him sometime.</p>
<p>SO... this coming Sunday, Moe and I finally get to do a show together, at the Red Bicycle Bistro on Vashon Island; www.redbicyclebistro.com. The show is at 7:30 P.M. I love that place, and I love Moe... Please join us! </p>
<p>I have a new CD that I'm very proud of. I will of course have lots of them on hand. Also copies of the CD recording of the concert where I met Moe--the tribute to Tom Dundee--and the partner recording to that one: a collection of songs from Tom's live shows over the many years of his performing career. </p>
<p>Moe Dixon is more fun than a Jacuzzi full of Dom Perignon. Do Not Miss This!*</p>
<p>*By the way, if any of you happen to have any first-hand experience with a Jacuzzi full of Dom Perignon, please don't share. I'd like to keep the mystery alive, now that the thought has crossed my mind.</p>
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Kat Egglestontag:kateggleston.com,2005:Post/61371192009-07-27T17:00:00-07:002024-03-06T04:19:17-08:00A Website for Kat
<p><span style="color:#003366">That sounds like a young adult novel, circa 2009...Anyway. This is my new website. After 35 years or so in the business, I thought I should maybe get myself a web presence that actually reflects what I am doing, who I am, what I've done, and (imagine this!) where I am playing next. My fifth studio recording is just being released, and I had all these humbling reviews that had never been gathered in one place, and photos that had never seen the light of day... I hope you'll agree this site looks like me, a little bit. They tell me I'll even be able to maintain this one by myself. Time will tell. Many thanks to my friend and supporter Jules Eberhardt for making this happen, and my friend and creative marvel Robyn Landis for writing and building much of this site.</span></p>
Kat Eggleston